Crusaders impressive in season opener

Brian Walzel, Potpourri Staff Writer

Published 7:00 pm, Tuesday, September 6, 2005

Crusader quarterback Caleb Christian threw for three touchdowns, including a 73-yard strike to Chris Duffy and a 51-yard score to Cody Robinson, and picked off three passes on defense to lead Concordia in the win.

Running back Jared Mueller, who started his first game as the replacement for all-everything 2004 graduate Josh Brough, racked up 122 yards on the ground on 12 carries, despite missing much of the third quarter because of leg cramps. Despite a number of standout individual performances in the win, it was the Crusader defense that proved the strongest.

The Crusaders held the Lions to -1 rushing yards for the game and forced San Antonio Christian quarterback Scott Becker to throw four interceptions. The Lions only managed 215 total yards of offense, compared to the Crusaders' 436.

Concordia got on the board first when Christian found Robinson for a 51-yard score with six minutes left in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Christian again connected on a long scoring play when he hit Duffy for a 73-yard score. The Adam Henning kick failed and the score stood at 14-0. The Lions finally got in the board about four minutes later when Becker hit Elliott Goudge for a 24-yard passing score to make it 14-7.

But the Crusaders thwarted the Lion rally when Christian scampered into the end zone from 10 yards out to make it 20-7 and Christian found Robinson again to seal the win.

"It was a good start," head coach Bruce Christian said. "We had our shaky moments, but we handled it okay."

He said the long road trip to start the season was a lot for his team to take in so early on, but they responded well.

Bruce Christian was certainly pleased with the way the scoreboard looked after the game, but after reviewing video of the win, admitted his team has a lot of work to do.

"We certainly have room for improvement," he said.

Bruce Christian said the Crusaders gave up a number of big plays when Lion receivers broke tackles and gained extra yards after the catch.

The three touchdown passes for Concordia was a bit of a deviation from their typical run-first offense. And while Bruce Christian was happy to see the long scores, he doesn't plan on counting on them in the future.